Running Into Stars

Writers: Avery, Chelle
Date Posted: 29th April 2015

Characters: R'gelen, Talwynn
Description: The two of them meet and the curious boy asks questions.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 12, day 5 of Turn 7

Lessons and lessons and more lessons. Then food. Then cleaning. Then
sleep. Rohagelen was behind everyone else, it seemed, since he had
only gotten here. And there were eggs of course. So the prospect of
Impression loomed and it kept getting closer. He didn't expect to
Impress at his first Hatching. That meant sticking around the Weyr. He
still didn't know what his parents would think about this. Just
thinking about sending the letter he had been writing made him ill.

He also didn't know what he thought about the Weyr. People were
helpful, that was sure. There were dragons everywhere! But it was
different from the crafthall and home. He even found himself comparing
Amber Hills to it sometimes. There were far less folk but they were
stuck into a much smaller place all on top of each other instead of
being spread out like the Hold.

Sighing, he walked down the tunnel to the barracks, eager to find his
bed and curl up. He needed to study some things before lessons
tomorrow or he'd look like a dimglow in front of everyone else. Once
again, he was the new person and he felt like a stupid farmholder most
of the time.

Talwynn's eyes were on the ground and she wasn't watching where she
was going. She'd stopped by the Candidate barracks to visit a friend
of her brother's, and to figure out if she wanted to work with them.
But it had ended up in frustration when one of the girl candidates had
made some snide comments. So she was stomping through the halls not
really paying attention to where her feet and cane were going.

He heard the noise first and then saw the greenrider approaching. Sliding
to the side, he made himself one with the wall. He knew better than to run
into a dragonrider. They were all so strong they could pound him into ground
or give him punishments for a sevenday. He was the low person on the rank
pole here, for sure.

She saw the Candidate right before she ran into him, and tripped over her
feet trying to not hit him. Instead she smacked into the wall and swore.
"Shaffit!"

He had tried to move-he had! Stricken, Rohagelen moved to help her then
realized greenriders were stronger than he was and maybe she didn't want his
help. Wondering what he should say, he somehow got out, "Ahh...sorry mam.
Are you okay?"

She pushed herself up awkwardly, bracing herself against the wall
with her bad hand. "I'm not paying attention to myself," she admitted.

"Ummm I can help?" **What else should I say?** He moved forward and got
closer then stopped and looked up at her. With a concerned look toward
Talwynn,
it was clear he was sure he had screwed up officially in his first sevenday
as a
candidate.

"I'd appreciate that," she said, reaching out to take his hand and get
herself back to her feet.

"Are you new here, Candidate?" She had to remember her manners to the new
ones.

"Yes mam. Still trying to figure things out." Maybe his turns would help her
to
forgive him. He looked back at her, watching her straighten out. **That must
hurt awful much.** He had seen injured people. A farmhold meant injuries
often
enough. This was different though. Women didn't get hurt-not like this.

"What's your name and where'd you come from? I'm Talwynn, rider of Riveth."

"Rohagelen, apprentice vintner-I was Searched at the Hall." **That had to be
enough information right?** He tried to remember her name. **Talwynn** he
repeated over and over in his mind. "Where did you come from?" It was out of
his mouth before he realized it might have seemed like a smart reply.

"The Vintners, huh? I've been by there many a time. Pretty area," she said.
His own question was easy enough to answer. "Dolphin Cove Weyr," she added.

"Oh...then why come here? It's a lot colder they say." He couldn't imagine
coming
to live in the mountains from somewhere like the sea. It would be night and
day different.

"My mother transferred here and I came with her. The night sky is a
little better for my Craft here, actually. When it's not snowing. But
then I Impressed."

"You craft?" He found that curious. Up till now he had never met a female
crafter. He knew they had them in the Weyrs, but he had never met one. "What
do you do?"

She wanted to snap something out about women being able to craft and die,
just the same as men. But she was finding that she liked this Candidate.
He was coming across almost as blunt as her.

"I'm a Starsmith, looking at the night sky. The Craft is useful in places
like the Weyr or the sea. Personally, I do weather reports and help
confirm Threadfall charts."

"Oh neat. What are threadfall charts?" He was still learning about all
of these things and Rohagelen found that sometimes riders themselves
were better to get information from than to wait on lessons. The greenrider
did seem to like talking about her craft and those
things so maybe it would be a good question.

"Riders want to know when thread is going to come and where it will be
so we can meet it. It usually falls predictably, but sometimes small
factors can throw it off." It was an important job to keep her hand in.

That sounded scary. Imagine thread falling somewhere it shouldn't be! The
candidate had been too young at the beginning of the Pass to really remember
that first Turn. "Oh well I better let you get to that then." She sounded
important.

"Have a good day, Candidate. Good luck at the Hatching." Talwynn said.
She'd keep an eye on him for sure.

Last updated on the April 29th 2015

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Running Into Stars